Fallen to pieces
by leprekan187
Summary: Au. Lily survives the attack and so does Harry. His father's love saved both of them. Lily apparates back to the order's hideaway with Harry and a diaper bag and a duffle bag. what will happen when Severus has to watch over Lily and Harry? Will the tension between Sirius and Remus resolve itself or will it self combust? Lily/Severus Sirius/Remus. rating subject to change
1. Chapter 1

Severus/Lily

Lily survives the attack and so does Harry. His father's love saved both of them

Lily apparates back to the order's hideaway with Harry and a diaper bag and a duffle bag.

Lily blinked against the harsh light shining in her eyes. It was the street light outside the window. Sitting up slowly she discovered she was in the floor of Harry's nursery. Blinking owlishly she touched a sore spot on the side of her head where she apparently had hit it and winched softly.

"Lily?! James?! Harry?! Is anyone here?!" she heard a yell from down stairs. Shaking her head and trying to stand she heard loud boots stomping up her stairs. It must be Sirius. He was the only one who stomped the steps.

"In here." She weakly called as she reached around and grabbed the side of Harry's crib. He garbled a happy noise at her. Smiling softly at her sweet boy she wondered again how she ended up on the floor.

"Bloody hell, LILY?" Sirius yelled as he got to the top step. His steps sounded a bit off before they returned to normal.

"Nursery." She said a bit stronger as she stood up and stretched a bit.

"Thank Merlin, at least your ok. I came as quick as I heard. Snape barely got in the door to the order before saying he was on his way already. Apparently Voldemort was not too happy with him tonight." Sirius said in a rush as he hugged Lily softly.

"Who… what are you going on about Sirius?" Lily said still holding her head.

"Voldemort. He was here." Sirius said looking her dead in the eyes. He waited paitently as the new sunk in and watched as her eyes turned wide with horror.

"but, Harry and I are fine. James must be too, he's… he said… oh god." Lily gasped bringing her hand to her mouth in horror. "Where's James Sirius." She said in a hard whisper looking desperately at her husband's best friend.

Sirius looked panicked as he floundered.

"Sirius Orion Black, where the bloody hell is James." She repeated in a louder much harder voice as she jabbed a finger into his chest.

"He's gone, Lily. At the top of the stairs." Sirius said in a defeated voice.

Lily gasped as she brought her other hand to her mouth, looking around desperately trying to understand. She looked around Sirius' shoulder and saw a wand and a bit of a hand just outside the door.

"Oh god…" she gasped as she tried to stumbled around Sirius. He stopped her and pulled her close, burying her head into his chest.

"No, Lily. He is gone. Don't do this." He barely managed as he tried to soothe her as he blinked back the sting of his own tears.

Lily felt as if her whole world had been ripped away from her. James had became everything in such a short amount of time and she didn't know what to do without him. She was glad Sirius was there because she didn't know what would have happened if she had walked out that door and saw James lying there. Lily was powerless to the gut wrenching sobs that tore through her body relentlessly. After an unmeasured length of time she could hear Harry wailing. Quickly she pulled herself away from Sirius as she tried her best to compose what little dignity she had left before reaching for her son.

"Shh, it's ok Harry, mummy is here. Mummy's here." She cooed as she bounced him lightly to get him to calm down. Lily looked at the red eyed Sirius and sighed.

"What now?" she asked her old friend quietly, still bouncing her son on her hip.

"We have to get you to the house. Both of you, and then send a pair of aurours over. They will want to scour the house top to bottom so we will have to gather what we need for now and anything you don't want to lose. Just in case. If you want to pack Harry's room, I'll grab some of your things. I won't even look." He said with a pitiful smile.

"thanks." She said replying in kind with a soft smile. "Come on Harry, love let's put you in the car seat while mummy gets your toys. We're going to go stay with uncle Padfoot for a bit." Lily said softly trying not to let the boy know how panicked she really was. He could always pick up on when someone was feeling off by the sound of their voice.

Once he was strapped in she handed him one of his toys before heading to his closet to grab both of his diaper bags. One regular diaper bag and another with an undetectable extension charm for trips. Quickly she flicked her wand that she found in the floor at each thing in the room at a time shrinking it and levitating it inside the bag, before dumping all the clothes in the bag as well; hangers and all.

Lily touched the picture on the wall of all three of them on the beach. It had been taken in July, back when Voldemort wasn't nearly as big of a threat. It had been a quick three day vacation but it was still the first time they had been to a beach as a family. Lily sucked in a pained breath as she realized it would also be their last as well.

"I got your bag. Along with a few things I thought you might need. I also grabbed his wand, and wedding ring." Sirius added in a soft voice handing both of them over to Lily.

Lily simply took the ring and stuck it on her thumb before holstering the wand on her hip before handing Sirius the bags and walking over to pick up Harry in the car seat.

"Come on, then. Let's go." Lily said holding onto Sirius and Harry as if her life depended on it.

Sirius landed them on the top step of number 12

Grimmauld place and let her enter quickly before joining her through the front hallways.

"Careful, don't wake up mum." He whispered as she let him pass to lead the way to the kitchen.

Sirius opened the door to the kitchen and could feel the hushed silence as they took in his face.

Albus was the first to notice Lily and Harry behind him.

"is James?" he simply asked taking a step forward. Sirius looked down at the distraught woman next to him before looking back at his old headmaster and nodded somberly.

"Snape's warning was a bit late." He ground out.

"Yes, well he had been unconscious for a few hours before he came to." Albus said quietly in the man's defense.

"Yeah, I know." Was all the response Sirius gave before sitting the three bags down on the floor next to the door.

"Well a most interesting thing was discovered after you left Sirius; it appears that Severus' mark is faded. To nearly nothing at all, your brother is helping him upstairs now. His mark is nearly gone as well."

"and, who cares." Sirius grumped at the older man not caring about the stupid mark on his brother or snivillius' arms.

"We all should. It means he is gone, or nearly gone. Reg said he had something he wanted to talk about regarding the mark fading when he got done healing Severus." Albus said calmly looking at the sad young man in front of him.

Just then a wisp of a patronus flew in front of the small group. It was Augusta Longbottom's kneazle. "Frank and Alice were attacked. I am taking them to St. Mungo's then headed there with Neville. The two that attacked them are currently stunned and hogtied in the living room of my living room. Albus, you know the address."

"Oh dear. Arthur can you accompany me to Augusta's." Albus said turning to the red headed man hovering near his very pregnant wife, Molly, who was bottle-feeding their youngest son.

"Of course, Albus. Come Molly, I'll help you and Ronald upstairs before I go." Arthur said trying to get his wife to stand.

"I will be more than fine right here, Arthur Weasley. Go with Albus once Ron has settled I can help Lily and Harry." She said in a tone that everyone there had learnt not to mess with.

"Very well dear." He sighed before kissing her and walking over to Albus.

"we will be back shortly. Lily? Try and get some rest dear. Young Harry will not understand where dad is. Please, think of him before all things right now."

"Of course Albus." It was a testimony of just how bad Lily was if she wasn't putting up any sort of fight.  
"Keep an eye out Alastor. Hopefully this shouldn't take too long." Albus said giving a heavy sigh before leading Arthur out the kitchen door quietly.

"Where is Remus?" Lily asked softly, looking around the table and only missing a few members, but she knew where Emmiline Vance and Minerva McGonagall were. They were at the school.

"I would suppose he is going into hiding. You made him secret keeper over me just last week remember. Voldemort could only find you one way. Bloody traitor." Sirius barked madly.

"Remus was never our secret keeper. We told bot of you it was each other. Peter was secret keeper. And he was supposed to be at his mums since she just got out of St. Mungo's the week before last." Lily said sadly.

"Wait… you mean _Peter. Peter Pettigrew?_ He was your blasted secret keeper. How… why…" Sirius looked completely befuddled.

"James thought no one would think it was him, that the obvious choice would have been either you or Remus. We were trying to protect everyone." Lily said softly trailing off looking at Harry as his little eyes drooped slightly.

"Come on we can take Harry and Ron upstairs now. It's really early and we don't need them off their sleep schedule too much." Molly said bracing one hand on the table and holding little Ron tightly with the other to stand easily.

"I can take him Molly." Gideon said holding his arms out for the little tyke.

"I've had five boys already and I'm carrying another. Don't you worry about me. I think I have got this whole baby thing down by now don't you dear brother." Molly said to her brother before kissing him on the cheek. "you can however grab Lily's duffle bags. Come on dear."

Lily nodded as she picked up Harry in his car seat before grabbing one of the duffle bags.

"I've got it. Three little bags is nothing when you see what Molly has to tote around." Gideon said with a charming smile.

Once Lily was out of the room Sirius stood and looked at Fabian.

"I'm going to go check Remus' safe house. I'll be back in a few hours." Fabian only nodded knowing there was no way he was going to let another friend go tonight. Two was bad enough, no matter the circumstances.


	2. Chapter 2

This is the second chapter of my new story. I was looking for a good story to read and couldn't find what I was looking for, so I decided to write it. And for some odd reason this story is just flowing right now. So bear with me. If you would like to beta I am more than welcome to offers not just with this story but all of my stories.

Chapter 2

Molly led Lily up the first two flights of stairs. Fabian followed silently behind them with the three heavy duffle bags.

"The only floor that has been fully cleared. Be careful going into rooms by yourself unless you know they have been cleared. Arthur was attacked by curtains in the library just yesterday." She explained with a soft smile at the memory. "Here we go. This is the only unoccupied room right now that is cleared. Arthur and myself are two doors down and the boys are three doors down. Sirius is the closest to the stairs there and Snape is across the hall. Young Black is next to him in front of us. And Remus was taking the far room in front of the boys. Fabian and Gideon don't stay here. They are night owls so they do night watch here then sleep at my house during the day. The room to the other side of you is not cleared out yet. It was their parent's room and neither of them wants to even try right now. Each bedroom has been charmed to have its own bath." She said explaining.

"Ok. Gotcha. You can sit the bags where ever. I need to set up his stuff anyway. Thank you Molly, you have been most helpful but I think I have it from here." Lily said as politely as possible. She wasn't ungrateful she just needed to be alone.

"Ok dear. Just call if you need anything. Like I said I'm just down the hall. And don't let my boys give you any trouble. Send them straight to me. Good night dear." Molly said smiling as she followed her older brother out the door. Lily had forgotten how much Molly could ramble if you gave her half the chance.

Lily sat Harry's car seat down on the bed before unpacking his nursery into the spacious room. Unshrinking the items one at a time and rearranging the room to fit everything and still be able to move around. She decided to scoot the bed against the wall under the window and put his crib at the head of her bed on the opposite wall forming an "L" shape. She put the diaper changing station on the other side of the crib before neatly stacking his toys and playthings between the desk near the door and the closet. The room would be a disaster in a few days anyway. She sat James wand and wedding ring on the dresser. With a last wave of her wand she charmed all of his clothes and hers into the closet and the drawers next to it.

She sighed as she sat on the bed and carefully unhooked Harry without disturbing him before setting him down in the crib. His stuffed bear James got him was still sitting there innocently. Lily couldn't look at it but she knew she couldn't throw it away. James got it for him just after he was born for when he was away on missions and Lily couldn't get him to settle down. It was charmed to smell like James and to give off a warming sensation. Lily took a deep breath before looking at the bear that was almost the size of Harry himself. Sighing she picked it up and gently hugged it to her. It was in fact warm and with a pained sob she could even smell James' scent as if he was right next to her. Gently she sat the bear down next to Harry and watched as he curled into it.

Lily grabbed her duffle that Sirius packed. Sure enough he managed to remember to get her own pillows and blankets along with her potions kit and toiletries. Making a decision to take a shower she quickly finished setting up in the bathroom before heading back to the bedroom to put her bed together.

After scrufying the bed clean just to be safe she laid out her blankets and her pillows against the others, she looked at it all for a moment before she charmed one of her pillows to life-size and the same charm that was on the bear. She locked the bed room door before taking off her clothes and leaving them in a heap on the floor just inside the bathroom door.

Checking to make sure she had a towel she turned on the faucet before looking in the mirror, she looked like hell. Hell, she looked like death. Blowing a mouthful of air out and up, she fluffed her bangs before grabbing her hairbrush. It hurt slightly from where she hit her head but not unbearable. She would just have to take a pain relieving potion then wait ten minutes before she would be able to take the dreamless sleep potion.

Setting the hair brush down with a loud clatter she climbed into the shower, letting the hot water scald her skin. Maybe this would help with the unnatural chill she didn't even know she had. She stood under the hot stream of water only turning when the other side got chilled again for a few minutes before she even picked up her shampoo she had set out.

Once she was bright pink and she felt numb and raw at the same time she climbed out of the shower to dry off. Back in the bedroom she looked at the clothes Sirius had grabbed for her hoping he remembered her night gown and slippers. Sure enough he did. It looked like he even managed to grab her entire side of the closet.

Not even paying any attention she dropped her towel in the floor with the clothes form earlier before changing and taking her first potion. She had always hated the taste but Severus used to add mint to make it bearable. _Severus… _she needed to see him. She hadn't seen him in years. Some best friend she was. Maybe it was time to put the past behind them and try to be friends again. Grabbing her wand she unlocked her door before peaking out. No one was around. She shoved her feet into the slippers before ducking out of her room and into the room across the hall.

Severus looked peaceful. She hadn't seen his face this relaxed in years. As quietly as possible she walked over to him. Knowing how light of a sleeper he was she resisted the urge to touch him. His face, his hand, his hair, anything would wake him. Albus said he had been unconscious for a few hours before alerting them about Voldemort attacking. He had tried. And if he knew where this house was without anyone to help him in that meant he had been trusted enough by Sirius to be allowed in. With a soft gasp that made him twitch in his sleep, Lily came to a horrible realization. Severus Snape was a spy.

Albus had told her and James that his most trusted spy had been the one to warn him about Harry needing protection. Severus had saved her son, and tried to save her and _James. _It seemed impossible and quiet improbable. Lily looked at her old friend with a renewed sense of security. Severus had always looked out for her before. Before everything had fallen apart with them, and before everything had fallen in place for her and James.

Lily couldn't stay any longer in fear she would wake him up. Quietly and quickly she stood and walked out of the room, not noticing the sleepy eyes following her out the door.

Making a sudden decision to go down to the kitchen to see if anyone was still up, Lily quietly made her way down the stairs carefully trying not to squeak any stairs.

Peering into the kitchen Lily only saw Gideon sitting there reading a book. The door squeaked as it opened making the red head jump and draw his wand. He took a deep calming breath.

"Jeeze, Lily, are you trying to scare the shit out of me?" he asked roughly, before sitting back down in the chair and picking his book back up.

"Sorry. I just wondered if anyone was still awake." Lily said softly coming in to the room and grabbing a glass of water to drink.

"Just me I think, Sirius is still out looking for old Remus, every single one of us thought Remus was a turncoat tonight. Sirius might have yelled at him to leave and never come back. No one believed him when he said he wasn't the secret keeper." Gideon said somberly.

"I realize that now. We just didn't know who it was; James never would have guessed Peter. He was such a quiet boy. Never went against anything James said. Peter even offered to watch Harry so many times for us. I guess I'm glad it never came to the point where I took him up on the offer. Harry would be gone long before now." Lily said with her voice tight with tears. She took a sip of her water to ease her throat.

"It's not your fault Lily. Severus gave us as much warning as he could. He could barely move when he got here. Sirius yelled at Remus before tearing out of here for you." Gideon said softly before going back to his book. Having something happen to Molly or the kids was the one reason he and Fabian had stuck by. If something were to happen to their little sister and kids they didn't know what they were going to do.

Lily didn't say anything as she sipped her water. She could hear the grandfather clock ticking away in the other room.

How was she supposed to do this now? How did she become a single mother and widow so soon in life? Harry was only a year old. How would she tell him his daddy wasn't coming back? _Oh god. His daddy wasn't coming back._ Lily thought painfully. He loved his daddy. His face always lit up when James was in the room. No matter if the oaf was paying him attention or just being James, Harry was always giggling with him.

Sirius and Remus would spoil him more now, she was sure of it. And she wouldn't have the heart to tell them no; not that she ever really did anyway. They always hung around more when James was on a mission that at least of them weren't in.

Suddenly it dawned on her. _James was on a mission. That was it_. Harry understood very few words; his name, mummy, daddy, paddy, moony, food, bath, and mission.

Mission would make him fussy for a few days but after that he would calm down and simply hold onto his bear.

She jumped when the clock struck four.

"I guess I should try and get some sleep. I keep putting it off." Lily sighed standing up from the table and sitting her empty glass in the sink.

"Good night Lily. Try and not dwell too much, he wouldn't have wanted you to." Gideon whispered honestly in the silence. Lily didn't respond to him as she shut the kitchen door and made her way back through the house to her room. Lily quickly took her dreamless sleep potion before sitting the empty vial next to the other one on the desk. She crept over to the crib where her son was. Harry was still sleeping soundly in his crib still holding on to his teddy. Lily smiled softly at her son, tucking his hair behind his ear, before climbing into her bed. Her head barely touched the pillow before she was asleep.

When she woke the next morning her head was feeling much better. Once she heard Harry give a soft noise she knew he was awake. Sighing she sat up and looked at her son. He was sucking on his thumb and holding his teddy tight as those bright green eyes looked at her.

"Hey baby. Let's get some food in that tummy of yours." Lily said with a smile as she picked him up and put him in his walker. "Mummy needs to change right fast then we can visit with paddy and moony if they are back." She told him as he smiled up at her at his uncles' names.

With a quick trip to the bathroom do brush her teeth and hair before pulling it up and checking every few noises to make sure Harry was ok, he seemed to be babbling now. Lily smiled as she shook her head and made her way to her closet. Sighing she settled on a bright yellow jumper and her tie dye cotton bell bottoms that she had made with Petunia when she was sixteen.

That summer had been the best for them since before Lily had gotten her Hogwarts letter. That was also the same summer her and Severus had fallen out. And Vernon just so happened to be on vacation with his sister for her wedding. Lily had promised Petunia that next summer when she came home that she would charm the pants to extend and keep color. That was the first time Petunia had ever been happy or excited by her magic. Of course that next summer the day after she got home a drunk driver totaled their parents' car and killed them. Petunia still blamed Lily for it, even though there was nothing she could have done to prevent it or even to help afterwards.

With a deep sigh she slipped on her flats before charming Harry's walker to levitate in front of her as she picked up the diaper bag that had his extra food and spare highchair in it.

She heard Sirius' barking laugh as she stepped onto the bottom landing near the kitchen door. Sirius was back at least. She just hoped he had located Remus. She kicked open the door before letting Harry down in his walker in the kitchen.

"Lily!" Remus exclaimed as he jumped up and pulled her into a big hug. "I'm so glad you're ok. Harry too." He chuckled watching the young boy kick his way around the table side to get to his uncle Padfoot who simply smiled at him waiting patiently.

"I'm sorry about in lack of trust you. I didn't think it was any of you and neither did James. But we thought they would try to come after you or Sirius first because you're so much closer to us then Peter was. I thought if you didn't know then they couldn't get you to say it." Lily said sheepishly and completely ashamed.

"Its fine, Lily water under the bridge. Severus' appearance last night scared me to death. I was afraid he had gained consciousness too late."

"He had."

"What do you mean?"

"I woke up on the floor in the nursery to Sirius coming for us. James was gone but we were fine." Lily explained as she sat the diaper bag down on the end of the table and stuck her arm in it all the way to her shoulder.

"But if he was after Harry… why just attack James?" Remus asked confused as he watched her rummage through the bag.

After a moment she pulled out the highchair and sat it next to a chair before pulling out a few jars of baby food and his powdered formula.

"I don't know. But I am glad Harry and I are ok. I would hate to think if something had happened to both of us and Harry had to go live with Tuney." Lily shuddered at the thought.

"I would take him before he would ever have to suffer that fate." A voice sneered at the kitchen door. Lily turned sharply before seeing her oldest friend. She stopped what she was doing with the diaper bag and walked over to him.

Lily stopped just in front of him before reaching over and touching his left arm where the mark was fading. She looked him directly in his eyes.

"Thank you, Severus. For everything." She said clearly before giving in to her desire to hug him fiercely. About the time she started to let go she felt his arms encircle her. Hanging on for dear life she broke down and gave into the horrible feeling she had inside. She cried for James, her husband and her sons' father. She cried for her lost friendship with Severus. And she cried of herself. For all the fear and emotions she had to hide for the last year.

"He is gone. But not completely. We will see to it that the last of him is destroyed and he is banished from this earth." Severus said quietly in her ear to where only she could hear. "I promise you, you will be safe again, Lily."

"Oi! Snape hands off!" Sirius barked once he had looked up from his godson.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: thank you for the compliment of assuming I am JKRowling. But I have to say, kind fellow reader, you are a simpering twat who doesn't know a blasted thing if you really need a bloody disclaimer. And if JKRowling was writing fanfiction then that would be her choice to make up her own disclaimer.

So roughly 900 some odd people have "looked" at my story and I only have 6 reviews… I don't beg for reviews but I would like at least some of you to give me feedback. This is mostly a filler chapter, I planned on waiting to post it but it's been two weeks and I actually forgot it was even written as far as it was.

Beta offers are always welcome

Chapter 3

"Sod off Black." Lily snapped once she regained composure. "He made sure you knew to come look for us. What would have happened if he hadn't told you and someone else, say Mulciber or Yaxley decided to come check up on the house? Would you be able to be holding your godson? Or would you be able to bicker with Severus about him hugging me? Or would you be planning two extra funerals? Mourning Harry and myself?" Lily asked in a rush of emotion.

He just sat there and looked blankly at my face before he looked at the little boy tugging on his sleeve.

"No I didn't think so. So stop pestering Severus. And don't even think about rounding on Reg. He is the one that was able to figure the rest of it out and you know it. He is just as important as well."

"Gee, thanks Evans." Reg said as he sauntered into his kitchen smirking at the redhead firecracker.

"It's Potter." Sirius snarled at his younger brother.

"Not anymore, but thank you for being crass and selfish enough to remind me that I am now a widow." Lily snapped emotionally at her friend. He was simply being completely impossible. And since it was always easier to take on one of the boys vs. two of them I knew he would listen eventually.

"Lily…" he started looking ashamed and horrified.

"No. Sirius Black. You will get along with the two of them. You will try harder than them and you sure as bloody hell will learn to be the bigger man. Harry has lost his father and he will need you as a good influence on his life. If I think for one moment that your presence will not make Harry a better person I will not allow him near you. He is retaining more and more and I will not have him retaining hatred for no good reason." Lily could feel her old feeling towards James and Sirius rise out of the woodwork of her system; they were always horrible to her friends.

"Ok, no bashing Snape. I understand." Sirius said lifting Harry out of his walker and holding him close. "There is no need to use Harry as a threat." He said kissing the toddler's forehead and bouncing on his lap.

"There seems to be a need since this is the only time you have conceded to my simple request. Bloody hell Sirius; He has never done anything to you, unless you or James provoked him. And you bloody well know it." Lily was mad, madder then she had been in a long time. She could feel her blood rushing under her skin, could feel her pulse quicken from anger and anguish.

Severus touched her arm and she all but deflated at the simple touch.

"Black, try not to provoke her. For her sake and Harry's." he said just barely over a whisper as he looked at his last remaining school rival, before turning to Lily. "This is a safe place for them both. If the need arises and she follows through with that threat, she will be more than welcome to stay at my house."

Lily's eyes widened as she took in what he was saying. She had only been inside Spinner's End one time, and even then she had been pulled into his bedroom for a potions book and back out into the street before she could get a good look at his home. Lily had insisted on going with him to retrieve his forgotten text for the next year so they could read ahead and he wasn't about to leave her to her own devices in the run down neighborhood.

Spinner's End was built quickly back when her parents were young and the nearby factory needed housing. And it was not an ideal place to raise a child when they had been younger but once most of the druggies and the whores died out and the children grew up and moved away it had slowly turned into a better area, not the best but nowhere near the horrible state it had been when he grew up there. Lily had actually walked through the blossoming neighborhood whilst pregnant with Harry one afternoon and was pleased with the differences that it was undergoing; plenty of remodeling and updating going on; laughter from children and pretty flowers peaking around fences.

"Thank you Severus. That means a lot to me." She replied honestly at her old friend.

"Well dears, breakfast is ready." Molly said softly from behind them as she waved her wand to set the table and placed all the food down before lightly touching Ronald's nose in his highchair as he clapped merrily at the magic. "Might as well tuck in before my boys come down. I'll make more then." She added as an afterthought.

Lily handed Sirius the soft tipped baby spoon to feed Harry with as he placed his godson into his own highchair, before tucking into her own plate of food next to Remus at the end of the table and Severus on her other side.

About the time most of the adults were finishing eating they could hear thunderous feet on the stairs waking the portrait of Mrs. Black.

"Time to put mother to sleep again." Sirius said with a heavy sigh handing the spoon to Remus so it didn't end up on the other side of the kitchen. Harry half turned in his highchair to look behind him at his uncle moony with a big smile on his face. "moo-moo!" he exclaimed in his happy voice his arms reaching for the Were and hands grabbing at the air in front of him. Remus turned to mush at his altered name on the young boys lips. He had managed mama, dada, paddy, and moo-moo in recalling names at his favorite people. Remus lifted the boy out of his highchair and started talking gibberish to him.

After Molly had cooked her sons' breakfast most of the order dispersed, some going to tend to more rooms and some actually heading out.

Remus sat Harry back down into his walker before taking his plate to the sink.

"Sirius and I are going to attempt to locate Peter. I still can't believe…" he gave a big sigh. "See if we can't get a few Aurors to help."

"Stun him first." Severus said suddenly out of nowhere. "Stun first, question later. No need for him to get away easily."

Lily didn't say a word as he took her plate and his to the sink, as she watched Harry bop along in his walker over to where he could see Ronald in his highchair. A soft smile formed on her face as she watched the boys interact in their own language.

"Molly, do you mind to keep an eye on Harry for a bit? I would like to speak to Lily with Lupin and Black gone for a while." Severus said as he walked back over to Lily and touched her shoulder lightly.

"Not a worry dears. Bill can you run to the playroom and get Ronald's walker for me?" she said addressing her oldest son.

"Sure mum," he chirped happily as he ran through the house quietly.

Lily allowed her old friend to take her hand and lead her back upstairs, pausing to let Bill pass by with an older walker on the stairs.

"I am sorry my warning was too late." He said softly to the dimly lit room he was staying in.

"I feel numb, Sev. We were just starting to get along. After so many years of me not liking him at all, and with so many years of him being a toerag it seems unfair that he could leave so easily." She whispered looking at one of the walls.

"I doubt he left easily. He loved you in his own way for years. Once he got you he wasn't willing to leave without the biggest fight of his life." Severus whispered back fiercely. He knew how Potter had felt. He felt the same way. If Lily had chosen him and it came to the point of where he could physically fight to keep her, it would be the nastiest fight he would ever be in. nothing would be held back.

"I know." She said in a horribly pained voice before she crumpled to the bed before him in sobs. Quickly Severus warded the door and silenced the room before going to her.

"I can't fix this Lily. But if there is any way I can conceivably make this even a bit easier, please tell me." He all but begged her as he rocked her gently on his bed.

Lily didn't have a response as she let him hold her and rock her. And she cried. She cried for James, the man who had changed so much for her. The man who she had grown to love. The man who was the father of her child. She cried for her son, Harry. He had lost his father at such a young age, after not having him around so much in the last few months. Her son had so many adult men in her life but it would not substitute for James. After an unmeasured amount of time Lily sat up slowly from her old friend.

"Thanks." She told him hoarsely as she wiped her eyes with the bottom of her shirt. She didn't want to look up and see his face. She knew there would be pity in his soft eyes. She knew she was a mess but Severus Snape was the only person she had ever trusted enough to not tease her when she was down.

"Any time, you know that." He said softly watching her warily as she stood in front of him.

"I don't know if I can stay here if Sirius won't behave. I thank you for the offer to stay at Spinners End but if you didn't mean it I can see if mum and dad's is habitable. Petunia had planned on selling it but if I can have it then it'll be easier and I can still be close to you." Lily said softly as she played with the wet hem on her shirt.

"The offer was true, Lily. If you want to stay with me you can. But if you would rather check out your parents house first then go ahead. The house has many good memories for me alone. So I know it's full to the brim with them for you." He said sweetly. "In fact. If you can keep the house. Keep it. It will help with the loss. It's a safe place. James was rarely there and you already know the house. I am just a three minute slow walk away, you know that." He added with a smile.

"Will you go with me to visit Tuney? She was always honest around you. And she never liked James too much." Lily asked softly.

"She has a small soft spot for me. Nothing more. And probably a lot less if she was asked." Severus joked.

"Only because you fixed her disaster of a wedding when the wedding planners had fucked it up, and you got to the church before I did." Lily said softly as she laughed at the memory.

"Yes, well, you were a little held up with Harry at James' parents' house." Severus pointed out. "and besides anyone that knew Petunia well enough, knew better than to assume the layout she wanted was _not_ the disaster the dunderheads left. If I hadn't fixed it, it would have cost your parents at least twice as much to fix it. I hadn't even planned on staying until she was sobbing all over me, a historical fact on which she will also deny until her dying day. I had planned on stopping by to thank her for extending her invitation and making something up to not have to attend. It would have made it so much calmer too. But she insisted."

"She was a tad distraught. Apparently you did such a good job that she snapped at her friends whenever they asked why you were there, which was a lot. But alas it was her wedding and you made it perfect in her eyes. After she had you fix about a dozen more things once she was calm." Lily said with a watery smile.

She had walked apparated in to a sight she never even dreamed of seeing in her wildest dreams. Petunia holding on to Severus for dear life with one hand, face tear streaked, as she pointed out the last of the things she needed to fix. Her dad had shown her the pictures he had taken before Severus had fixed the church and reception hall. It had looked horrible. And considering Lily had been present with so many of Petunia's meetings with the wedding planner, as a forced maid of honor, Lily _knew_ what was in those pictures was not what Petunia had wanted.

"Lily! Dear! You have a visitor!" Molly called up the stairs.

With a deep sigh Lily took Severus' wrist as she led him back down the stairs and was graced with two ministry officials.

"Good Afternoon, Mrs. Potter. We are here to confirm the deceased Mr. James Potter, and to discuss his will." One of the uptight looking men said in a monotone voice.

"Oh, yes, of course. We can sit in the kitchen." Lily replied, manners ever present in company she didn't know.

"That isn't needed Mrs. Potter. We simply came to confirm and let you know that the house in Godric's Hollow is not safe to live in. There is a lingering dark magic that won't let the house be repaired. We're waiting on a specialist to come and give it a go but I am afraid the home won't be suitable for you and your son to live in. Now the Potter's have various houses and cottages scattered throughout that are now in your name. You will need to visit Gringotts bank at your soonest convenience, to be given a new key as the lock on the vault has changed. Vault 687, in question, will need both you and the heir to the Potter name present. Mr. James Potter has left everything to you and the heir and all of it has been moved to the vault. There will be a shelf closest to the door, of items the will summoned back to the vault. If you would like an escort to Godric's Hollow to retrieve any belongings simply send us an owl an hour before and I will see to it that you have at least two of my finest to assist you."

"Thank you. I will go by Gringotts later today." Lily said softly as she took in everything the man said. "Is there any way that I can send for an escort and it not be myself to retrieve items from Godric's Hollow?" she asked.

"Of course. The ministry understands this is a hard and very trying time, Mrs. Potter. You have our deepest sympathies. The Minister himself will be paying for and hosting your husbands' funeral. The security will be very high, for safety measures." The other man said quietly, not looking nearly as uptight now.

Lily nodded, "will that be all?"

"Yes, it is Mrs. Potter. Good day." And with that they were gone.

"Looks like I have quite a bit to do today." Lily said quietly as she looked at the closed door.

"I can try and repair the house if you would like me to Lily." Severus said quietly from somewhere behind her. She simply shook her head.

"I don't want to even be the one to gather from the house, let alone try to make it livable for Harry and myself now. I don't think I could ever live there again."Lily said softly as she stood and picked up Harry from his walker.

"Molly, we'll be back later." Lily said in the direction on the kitchen before heading upstairs to change Harry. Severus followed silently.


	4. Chapter 4

a/n in my universe I am putting the "oldest" vault as the smallest number so instead of however they have it in jkr's world, as I assume vault number 1 would be closest to the surface, I am making it the deepest, strange, I know. But the oldest and most prestigious vaults should have the highest security. Therefore they will be the deepest.

Tough shit if you have a problem with it.

Chapter 4

Severus followed Lily and Harry silently through the bank. Watching as people pointed, stared, and whispered at them. He kept a respectable distance as she dealt with the goblin over the vault and properties. With all of those houses and cottages she wouldn't need to accept his offer nor would she need to see Petunia over the house close to him. She would have no reason to be close by. Not really, and not enough of one he could really believe her using.

"I thought they all died."

"No, only the dad."

"The son was the one he was after right?"

"Why couldn't he kill the wife and kid?"

"The Potter family must have used a form of dark magic if they managed to survive the killing curse _and_ kill off the dark lord all in one go."

The whispering was getting louder and braver as Severus turned to the room and gave a sneer, these gossipmongers would never learn. He quickly sent a stinging hex to the ones he knew were gossiping about Lily. Sure enough there were quite a few yelps around the main room in the bank hall.

"Come on, Sev. Were going down." Lily said not looking at anyone in the room but him. Severus couldn't hold in the sneer as she turned away to follow the goblin. He had only been on the goblin travelling cart a few times but he never liked it enough to be excited about it.

But he followed Lily none the less and even offered to take Harry.

"It's fine Sev. He might get sickly and even James could never calm him when he started feeling like that." Lily said with a smile at the offer. "When we are done here I plan on going to Lloyds then we can visit Tuney." She said after they were sitting and buckled in. Severus was confused but couldn't do anything about it because they had started their descent through the bank.

Severus was glad Lily had turned him down for holding Harry because the boy was squalling and Severus was having difficulty keeping his breakfast down. The Prince family vault, vault 872, was not necessarily a new vault but it was nowhere as deep as the Potter vault it seemed. There were thousands upon thousands of vaults in Gringotts but Severus had never been all the way down. In fact he really didn't want to ever have to deal with anything below 600 at this point in time.

"Vault 687. Lamp please." The goblin said after a few more minutes, Harry's cries calmed down almost instantly once they were stopped. "Here is a Gringotts pouch with an undetectable extension charm and a feather weight charm. Only vaults below 700 get these, as it is assumed they will need to gather more than most." The goblin explained to Lily, Harry had started to calm even more as she rubbed his back gently. "Place your wand here on the bag, please. And please think of the amount you wish to have in the bag. The amount will be in the bag now. This charm only works inside your vault. And it will only work for your wand and the young man's wand once he is seventeen. Until then you will have to accompany him or he will have to pick it up by hand." Severus was barely even listening as he tried his hardest to settle his stomach for the ride up.

Severus took a deep breath and closed his eyes as they sat back down in the cart.

By the time they made it back outside, Harry and managed to deposit his breakfast on the goblins head earning him Severus' upmost respect and Lily had changed quite a bit of galleons into pounds to take to the muggle bank. Lily had placed all but about 300£ back in the Gringotts bag which had made its way down to the bottom of her purse on her shoulder. The 300£ was neatly folded into her wallet which was also in her purse.

"I need to purchase a stroller then we can be on our way." Lily said in explanation as they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron. The pub managed to fall quiet as they walked through, not stopping to great anyone on the way out.

"There's Black and Lupin. And it seems Pettigrew. Fuck." Severus said before casting a quick muggle repelling charm on the shopping centre. The adult wizards were arguing loudly. Once the muggles were on their way out of the area Severus sent a quick full body bind curse to Pettigrew, making him fall rigid at the other wizards' feet. Lily handed Harry to Severus before rushing over to help her late husbands' friends. Severus with Harry followed at a much calmer pace.

"Don't take it off Lily. I found out just before my position as a spy had been compromised that he was the one passing information to the Dark Lord. I was coming to warn you about that before he revealed the location to all the Deatheaters in the room at the time. Then that scum told them that I was their leak." Severus said calmly as Lily took out her wand and started to point it to Peter.

"He's one of James' best friends." Lily said in his defense.

"Lily. Peter Pettigrew is James' murderer. Plain and simple. He is the reason you no longer have a husband, he is the reason Harry here no longer has his dad. That piece of scum is not your friend. He has been passing information to the Dark Lord before we had even graduated Hogwarts." Severus said calmly as Aurors apparated to the shopping center.

"There was a detection of an unauthorized muggle repelling charm on this location." One of them said pointing their wands at both Black and Lupin.

"That would be me sir. Pettigrew, that lump of shit there, is the one that you are looking for. He has a full body bind on him." Severus said calmly.

"The one we're looking for?" one of the other Aurors said looking confused.

"Apparently he is the one that sent Voldemort after James." Black said cruelly watching as most of the Aurors flinched at the name. "He is also an unregistered animagus. He is a rat. So I wouldn't take the body bind off. Well, looks like we get to go to the ministry Moony. I need to register." Black said looking at the Were with a lopsided grin as he put it hands in his pockets and started walking down the street, Lupin slowly followed once he made sure they wouldn't be followed.

"If this is indeed what is going on, I thank you for casting the charm. We will remove it once we are finished here." One of the female Aurors said quietly as the others moved forward to Pettigrew.

Lily looked bewildered for a moment before shaking her head and taking her son back and walking in the direction of the muggles.

Severus did not enjoy his quick trip into the department store he knew Lily and Petunia enjoyed on the rare times Mrs. Evans would take them, always dragging Severus along for a new shirt, pants and pair of shoes each summer. And he wasn't allowed to argue. Sure enough Lily managed to find a stroller for Harry but then turned around on Severus and squinted at him.

"Tuney will want us looking like perfectly normal muggles, walking into her new home. We'll need to get you a few things. Just to make sure." She said with a grin on her face. She didn't care what Petunia thought of him walking into her perfect home looking like a wizard. She just wanted to get him new clothes, like old times.

"I knew you were going to pull that one." He replied in a sour voice. "Alright, hurry up then. Find me something suitable to wear into Petunias' house."

An hour and four shrunken bags later Lily hailed a cab to take them to Surrey for the hour long drive. The stroller Lily bought also had a way to somehow change into a car seat, as long as you loaded the other part of it in the trunk of the cab.

Severus laid his head back on the seat and let the cabbie and Lily talk for the majority of the ride. Severus didn't pay attention to what they were saying but simply wished for the car to move faster. The quicker this drive went the easier he could just simply apparate them all back to Spinner's End and be done with it for the day.

Severus didn't even realize he had drifted off until he felt Lily gently shaking him awake.

"I've already paid the cabbie. Help me get Harry out; he's buckled in on your side." Lily said softly before climbing out of her side of the cab.

Severus quickly unbuckled the car seat and pulled the sleeping tyke out his side of the cab before shutting the door with his hip.

"Have a good day miss!" the cabbie shouted from the front seat as Severus sat the car seat back into the stroller. He glanced back as the man was placing his hat back on his head. "Good day sir." He added on very respectfully before pulling out of the neighborhood.

Severus looked at Lily with one eyebrow arched.

"He got a bit friendly so I told him you were my husband. And it only fit seeing as how were travelling with Harry, who for some reason had decided to sleep the day away." Lily said quickly as Severus' face turned beet red at the implication.

"Yes, well. Which of these lovely homes belongs to our dear Petunia?" Severus asked as he straightened his shirt from where he had slumped in the cab.

"Number four that was the last Mum told me." Lily said walking up to the door of number four and knocking on the door exactly five times. Severus had always noticed they knocked five times each when they needed in a door the other was in. He didn't think many had caught on to the silliness of the sisters, even in age and anger they remained.

"Lily, what on earth are you doing here? Snape?" she asked in confusion.

"May we come in Tuney? This won't take too long. I promise." Lily asked her older sister as she simply stood there in shock.

"Yes, yes, come in before the neighbors see you." Petunia said suddenly yanking herself out of her shock.

About the same time the door shut they heard a soft cry from the other room.

"Dudley. He's still teething and he has taken to his fathers' temper." Petunia said leading the way to the quaint kitchen. The boy in question was a round little thing tottering in his highchair reaching up to his bottle of formula sitting near the edge of the counter. Petunia picked it up and handed it to him. "I was about to feed him his afternoon bottle. What is going on Lily?"

"There was an attack last night on my house in Godric's Hollow. James is gone and the house is unlivable." Lily explained watching her nephew suck away on the formula.

"Vernon would have to have a say in whether you would be able to stay here or not. He won't be home for a few hours at most." Petunia said sitting at the kitchen table and waving her hand at the two of them to sit as well.

"I was actually going to see if you had sold mum and dads' yet."

"Oh. Vernon said there was an offer a few days ago but I don't know if they signed anything yet, and I thought you said you didn't want to keep the house even if something happened."

"I know. But it will be close to Severus and relatively close to you. It's only a few hours' drive from here if I remember. The Potters estates are all out of country or too far away. And right now after everything, well I want to be close to those I have left."Lily said softly looking at her hands.

"Vernon thought James was lying about having money. That's why…" Petunia said in an odd voice before walking into the other room. "I can phone him and see."

Severus watched Lily take in the room. And he did so as well, trying to look at it through her eyes. It was small but it was clean. There were quite a few newer appliances sitting on the counters. The counters themselves were clean as a whistle. Everything looked immaculate. But no one would ever expect anything less of Petunia Evans… Dursely. Both Lily and Severus looked up once they heard her shoes clicking on the tiled floor as she returned to the kitchen.

"Vernon says they made an offer but it was a lot less than Vernon was hoping to get out of the house. All things considered he hasn't agreed to sell the house to them." Petunia said as she went about to make tea.

"Tuney, if its money you need I can buy the house. If it will make all of this better between us. Mum and dad are gone. James is gone. Everything in my world that threatened you is gone for now. I… I want to make things right for you and I again." Lily said passionately.

"Vernon is on his way home now. He… he is willing to sell the house to you. I told him not to but he seems rather keen to see how much you value our relationship." She said turning away as she filled the teapot with water and sat it on the stove top.

"If Vernon was so sure James was lying, why didn't he say anything to me?" Lily asked softly.

"I told him not to. That if you were fine settling for an unemployed wizard then that was your choice. That if you wanted to take the route of providing for your family it was your choice." Petunia said not looking at either Lily or Severus as she bustled around the kitchen.

"Oh. Well James came from a good family. Like I told you. He managed to somehow leave everything to myself and Harry, but then again I guess wizard wills work different than muggle wills. I don't want to be away from home and Godric's Hollow was the only house that was close to here. And even that was too far of a drive."

"Why are you even worried about how far of a drive you are?" Petunia snapped after a moment.

"Because that makes it more difficult for you to come over if you wanted. And it's not recommended that you apparate with muggles." Lily said as if it was apparent. Lily wanted to spend time with her sister. Even Severus knew that much.

"Oh… well… I…" petunia stuttered awkwardly as she looked at her younger sister. "Maybe… after everything is settled?"

About that time everyone in the kitchen heard a car pull into the driveway.

"That'll be Vernon." Petunia said taking the teapot off the stove top and pouring four cups before adding the bags of tea from a cupboard.

"Petunia? Dear?" a booming voice called from the front door. "Mr. Henderson wishes you well. I told him you were feeling under the weather and that's why I needed to come home a tad bit early." The voice said as he came closer to the kitchen.

"We're just now getting ready to take tea, Vernon. Come sit." She said as she sat the tea tray down on the kitchen table before moving Dudley between her and Vernon after she sat apple cubes on the highchair plate.

Vernon nodded at Severus and simply blinked at Lily.

"So what is all this about then?"

"There was an attack on Lily's house last night and James is dead and the house is destroyed. Lily was looking to buy the house in Cokeworth." Petunia explained.

"Well I have been trying to sell the house at £97,000 and I have had offers saying the house isn't worth that much. Now I have paid to have all of the main appliances updated and even had the old cellar redone to where it could be something better. A man's getaway or even just a real wine cellar. I also put in new double paned windows on the upper level of the house. The plumbing has also been updated." Vernon explained as he sipped his tea around his growing mustache.

"I see. Well, how much are you really looking to get out of the house?" Lily asked impressed with all of the changes and updates he had managed to get done.

"The very least I expect out of the house would be £103,000. And honestly that's just covering some of the odd costs that have went into fixing the house." Vernon said and by the look on Petunia's face this was the response he had given everyone.

"I see. I'm surprised you went so low, Vernon. I took the liberty of looking up the prices in the area when I thought about selling my house Spinner's End. And I came across their house. That house is worth double that; didn't you know?" Severus asked calmly.

"You were going to sell your house?" Lily asked Severus suddenly. Severus simply nodded.

"Depending on the outcome of what was supposed to happen I wanted to make sure that everything was taken care of." Severus explained softly.

"Yes, we were well aware of the price of the house." Petunia said softly.

"So then, why in the world are you trying to sell it for half of what it is worth?" Lily asked incensed.

"With the upgrades being done to Spinners End the prices of everything in the area is dropping." Vernon said wisely. "if someone wanted to pay the full price and then noticed everything was dropping then they would want their money back, and quite honestly I don't do well with people being that far parsimonious with me over a house. It was simpler to just lower the price between what Spinners End is now and what the house itself is really worth."

"I will pay you the full price of the house. That is not an issue." Lily said looking at her brother-in-law.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Lily smiled at Vernon, who looked pleasantly gobsmacked.

"I forgot to stop at the bank on the way over so you will have to help me count it all Vernon. I withdrew more than I needed from Gringotts because I didn't know if I needed to buy from you or if I would have to look into another house in the area." Lily explained as she pulled out the Gringotts bag from her purse.

Severus couldn't help the reaction as she pulled bank wrapped 100£ notes from the bag.

"Merlin's balls Lily." He gasped making her laugh at him, which in turn woke Harry who started giggling at the sound of his mothers' laughter.

"I pulled out enough to be able to do one million pounds. Just to see the dent it would put into the vault. Needless to say I think I might have seen a single stacked pile of Galleons shrink. James never told me how much he really had but then again I never needed to ask." She said with a side look at Vernon.

"You didn't rob a bank then?" he asked not wanting to touch the stack of wrapped notes.

"No I didn't. you can wait a week and see if there's anything mentioned on the telly about a bank robbery but there isn't one going to be there, I'll need to purchase a car but other than that I plan on putting a bit of it in the stock market and I'll need help with both of those things if you wouldn't mind Vernon."

He simply nodded before looking at his wife. "Did you have any idea she had all of this?" he asked looking at the stack.

"No, not a clue." Petunia said reaching for the stack, "so you can just ask for it at the vault in your bank you said?" she asked her sister curious now.

"Only the older and deeper vaults. It's a five minute ride down underground to get to my new vault. And it's only my wand and my bag. And it has to be me that does it." Lily explained.

"Down underground?" Vernon said looking doubtful now.

"Yes, magic Vernon. It's a very simple yet complex thing to understand. There is no scientific way to describe it and I'm not even going to try for the simple fact that I'll just confuse myself somewhere down the line. The point is, is that there is a whole other world hidden in the middle of this one." Lily said simply.

"And how come no one has ever discovered it before now? They have all kinds of new technology and contraptions for detecting things." Vernon asked.

"Simple. Muggle repelling charms. Once cast until it is counter-cast a muggle will simply see whatever it was as a rundown building or ruins or simply a wasteland. Our school is said to look like ancient castle ruins. Marked unsafe and dangerous. And for those that are curious enough it will simply make them forget what they were doing and send them back to the last place they were when they weren't thinking of the ruins. Simple, change the look, complex, make them forget about it and have then go back from where they came and keep them safe." Severus explained. "Another thing is that a magical signature messes with technology. Makes a television have static, like a bad pair of ears. Or a radio sounds like it doesn't get the correct channel. Simple yet complex, like she said."

"Yes, well I don't know about…" he started looking at the banknotes longingly.

"Vernon. Would you feel more comfortable with a check that a realtor will get 10% or more of or would you rather I just pay you cash up front for the full 200,000£." Lily asked looking at her greedy brother-in-law. "It would help keep you guys afloat while you try to find your real footing in the drill company or if you wanted to try a different route then you wouldn't have to worry about the house or Tuney or Dudley."

"That is true. The drill company makes you have to brown nose most of the uppers far too much. The Masons are nice and all but they are very hard to win over for anything." Vernon said the last part almost to himself. Lily and Severus waited patiently for Vernon to think it through before he agreed.

"Alright then. I will take the offer. One would be mad not to." Vernon replied after a bit. His fingers seemed to itch to hold the cash in his hands.

"Well that is settled. Help me count out the 200,000£. If all four of us do 50,000£ then it will be quicker." Lily stated pulling out more wrapped notes making Vernon's beady little eyes bug out of his head.

Severus had taken to separating out his quarter into stacks of 50 100£ notes. Made his counting quicker. He double checked his numbers before sitting it in the middle of the table.

"There is 500 100£ notes." He said simply before sitting back and watching Lily count, he smirked when she finished her counting just minutes after he did. She had taken to counting larger sections out before she double counted.

Vernon and Petunia added there section to the center of the table before both handing back a good handful of bank notes to Lily.

"Go ahead and keep the rest. Use it to set something up for Dudley in a few years. Or a vacation or something. I have more than enough as it is." Lily said before handing it back to Petunia, who looked more than abashed by the offer but took it none the less. Lily waved her wand at the notes re-wrapping them neatly into the appropriate stacks.

"I'll go get the keys and paperwork from upstairs." Vernon said still looking a bit shell shocked. He even managed to walk into the door frame as he left the kitchen.

"Lily. You don't have to give us money." Petunia started as she tried to hand the extra stacks back to her sister.

"Poppycock. Besides, this way I can pay you back for that horrid bridesmaid dress forced me into… oh and those shoes! Tuney what were you thinking with those shoes?" Lily asked horrified at the mere memory of the wedding Severus had helped fix.

"Those were the only things I forgot to ask Severus to fix. I thought you would have altered them to what you wanted." Petunia replied looking confused as she looked over to Severus.

"Transfiguring clothes is risky. You have to actually know the specifics to do it properly. I wouldn't have even known where to begin if you had asked me." Severus replied coolly.

"Oh. Well then I'm sorry for making the assumption."

"Its fine, Petunia. Lily might have known the spells but I didn't and still don't. The only reason I knew the ones I used at the wedding was because I got roped into helping a friend's wife redecorate half of her house. She was pregnant at the time and carrying a magical child makes for a difficult pregnancy." Severus explained.

"Mum had a horrible pregnancy with Lily. She was sick for most of it and was always tired. I guess you were magical from the moment you were conceived." She said looking at her sister.

Lily didn't say anything as she watched her sister. Vernon walked back into the room then, looking a bit better than he had when he left the room.

"Here you go. We can sign all the legal stuff tomorrow if you would like. Unless you are busy and I can try to get a hold of the notary tonight."

"Tomorrow is fine. We need to get back to where we are staying. It's still a bit dangerous for you but they are working on gathering the last of his followers as quickly as possible." Lily said reaching into the diaper bag to retrieve a necklace and a watch before handing them to her sister and brother-in-law. "To make me feel better. All you have to do is say a word and I will be here. I have a matching one." She said holding up her wrist, showing the bracelet. "Say prongs and I will be here in seconds. The followers attacked a couple of friends last night, and I would hate for some of them to get even close to here but just in case keep them on at all times. Even if a year goes by and they stay quiet, it would make me feel better knowing that I did something to protect you. There are wards on the house to let me know if someone magical walks into the house but if you go out, even to the garden or to the neighbor's house wear these."

"This is serious isn't it?" Vernon asked after a moment.

"Deadly." Severus replied in a calm voice. "There are a couple of hundred followers and we don't know who all of them are. The ones that we have come into contact with like torturing a bit too much. Dark witches and wizards in the past have designed and created spells to do harm to the body. If you are lucky you will get the killing curse. If you are not it could be years before they let you die. Even if they don't they can leave you mad. I would suspect a few of the nastier ones take a great deal of _pleasure _into torturing children. Until he is old enough I wouldn't let him out of your sight or if you have to contact us through those and we can arrange to have someone watch him."

"You act as if you know this from experience." Petunia said as she picked up her son and held him close.

"I know it all too well." Severus sighed. "I was a spy for their side. I was to act like the person everyone thought I was and in return Albus would protect those that I loved and were closest to. Only Potter put his trust into the wrong person and there was nothing I could do once it was reviled that I was a spy. I was lucky to make it out when I did and to get to where I could warn them to check on him, Lily and her son. I was too late to help Potter but it would have been minutes or maybe an hour at most before the followers would have checked the house." Severus explained to her not really looking up, ashamed that he was unable to do more than he had.

"You were one of them weren't you?" Vernon asked in a violent tone, turning red and standing up menacingly.

"His information saved many lives. Mine included. He can give names and locations and so much information to the ministry that can help get our world straightened out much quicker than if we didn't have someone on the inside that was loyal to us." Lily said quietly making Vernon sit before he could do anything.

"You mean loyal to you, Lily. If there is anything that I know it's that Severus would be loyal to you until he dies. And even then I don't think he would stop." Petunia said somberly looking at her little sister's childhood friend. "I'm sorry for how I have treated you over the years. I know we made peace at my wedding but thank you, thank you for saving my family. What little bit you could at least." She said as honestly as she could.

"there is no thanks for protecting those that you love." Severus said looking at his hands in his lap, feeling incredibly awkward.

"Well we really do need to get back before Sirius sends a search party. If Severus can't come tomorrow then I will see you guys then." Lily said standing up and placing her hand on Severus' shoulder.

"I will be where ever I am needed most." He replied looking up at her sad smile.

"I know."

"Good night Lily. Be safe and thank you for the protections." Petunia said standing up and giving her sister a hug.

"I could never live with myself if something happened to you and I did nothing to prevent it." Lily said softly hugging her sister back.

Vernon shook Severus' hand tightly but didn't look murderous anymore.

Severus was shocked when Petunia pulled him into a hug as well. "Watch after her." She whispered harshly into his ear.

Severus nodded at her silently, searching her face suddenly, trying to look not quite so shocked at being hugged by her.

The Dursely's watched at Lily, Harry in her arms, shrank the stroller and placing it into the diaper bag before picking up the diaper bag with her paperwork and keys and taking Severus' hand with her empty one.

"We'll see you tomorrow." Severus said before apparating them away with a soft crack.

Vernon looked at Petunia who was holding Dudley again. "Looks like I need to call the notary and make a deposit in the bank in the morning." He said looking back at the stacks of bank notes on his kitchen table. "Bloody hell." He said raking a hand through his hair.

"And we can take the vacation we talked about a few months ago." Petunia said looking at her husband with a soft smile.

Vernon nodded before he went to empty his brief case to place the stacks of notes in to take to the bank in the morning.

Tomorrow would be a _very_ interesting day. If he didn't get arrested at the bank for either stolen or fake notes.


End file.
